getting a last shot at the eagles. the question is would another division loss slide the defending super bowl champs out of the playoff picture? it's "way too early" for this. good morning. i'm wiley geist, this is "way too early," a show that was mathematically eliminated in the playoffs in week two. you can always e-mail me at waytooear waytooear waytooearly@msnbc.com, or text the word awake to 622639. we'll read the best responses later in the show. this is monday, october 1st, and there's a lot going on today including paul ryan tight-lipped on the specifics of the romney plan to cut taxes but not blow up the deficit. and no animals were harmed

in the making of this video. skater dude meet deer. that clip later in the show. first to the news live at 5:30 a.m. at 30 rock in new york city. we begin with stories from overseas where foreign policy is coming out as the central topic in the election with much of the recent focus on the attack on bengahzi, libya. romney advisers are split on how broadly they should hit the president over his handling of the attack and why it took so long to acknowledge it was an act of terrorism. some romney advisers to keep the focus on the economy, some are saying romney should have a major foreign policy speech days after the debate. over the weekend, the white house was on the defensive after the friday's announcement that the deadly assault on the u.s. consulate in bengahzi was

deliberate and organized. peter king of new york called on susan rice to resign as u.s. ambassador to the united nations after she initially claimed the attack on the consulate was part of the spontaneous protest after an anti-islamic video. yesterday paul ryan and john mccain slammed the administration's handling of the deadly attack. >> the response was slow, confused, inconsistent. they first said it was a youtube video and a spontaneous mob. we now know it was a planned terrorist attack if this was one tragic incident that would be a tragedy in itself. the problem is it's part of a bigger picture that the obama foreign policy is unraveling before our eyes on tv screens. >> i think it interferes with the depiction that the administration is trying to convey that al qaeda is on the wane, everything is fine in the middle east. >> you think it's political? >> how else could you trot out

our u.n. ambassador to say this was a spon ttaneous demonstrati? >> maybe they thought that at the time? >> on "meet the press" david plouffe was asked by david gregory if politics had anything to do with the administration labeling the assault as terrorism? >> the president's challenger said the president failed to level with the american people and call this a terrorist attack because you had to be concerned about another terrorist attack from al qaeda in the middle east after the president said that al qaeda had been defeated. >> that's preposterous and offensive to say that. as information was received from the intelligence community, it was distributed this president's record on terrorism takes a back seat to no one. >> was this an intelligence failure? >> no this was a complex event. we're only talking a matter of weeks here.

so as information was arrived at, as determinations were made that was shared with the mesh people. i think, again, the focus needs to be how do we make sure our facilities and ambassadors and personnel are secure going forward. >> and we have this morning some breaking news out of afghanistan. a spokesman for the u.s.-led coalition says at least 14 people including three nato troops were killed in a suicide bombing just this morning. the taliban claiming responsibility for that attack it following a grim milestone over the weekend where the killing of an american serviceman late saturday pushed the total number of u.s. military deaths in s is in the war to 2000. nbc is live in kabul with the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. three more americans, according to afghan officials were killed today in that attack that you mentioned.

apparently a suicide bomber joined an american patrol. the three americans were killed along with an interpreter they were using and 12 afghans, that includes 12 afghan soldiers and civilians. the taliban did claim responsibility for that attack. over the weekend, an american civilian was killed in an attack, when afghan soldiers fired upon them, they then fired back upon the afghans killing at least three afghan soldiers this weekend. that milestone you mentioned, willie, that's 2,000 this weekend that died within afghanistan, but we've reached that 2,000 level months before, including the americans that were injured in afghanistan, and then died later in ohospitals outside of afghanistan. unfortunately there has been more than 2,000 american that

lost their lives in afghanistan prior to yesterday's milestone. willie? >> all right. atia, thank you very much. well have much more on that coming up throughout the morning. in domestic policy, new polling on the presidential race out this morning a couple days before the candidates square off in their first debate. according to the "washington post" and abc news, 49% of likely voters say they would vote for president obama. 47% say they would vote for mitt romney. those numbers have not moved since early last month. they are in a statistical tie there when you account for the margin of error. in the swing states, the president's lead grows to 11 points among likely voters. 52% to 41%. in ohio, a new poll shows the president leading 51% to 42%. a nine-point spread. in august, the same poll had the two candidates tied at 45%.

in iowa, paul ryan will be campaigning today. the des moines register has the president leading 49% to 45%, just 2% there are undecided. those numbers raising the stakes for the romney campaign ahead of wednesday's debate. right now expectations are with the president. 55% of likely voters expect him to win the debate. in preparation for the match-up, the president is hunkered down with his aides in nevada, romney spent the weekend practicing in boston. both sides looking to play the role of underdog in the debate, downplaying expectations and talking up the opponent, but not chris christie who spoke yesterday on "meet the press" about his confidence on the republican candidate. >> the general public i speak to in new jersey and elsewhere are just beginning to tune in to this race. they will tune in on wednesday night. when they do governor romney will lay out his vision for a better and greater america for greater opportunity for all of

our citizens. i think that's when you will see this race start to tighten and then move in governor romney's direction. come thursday morning, the entire narrative of the race will change. >> congressman paul ryan was pressed to explain the republican approach to tax policy during an interview yesterday. >> you're the master of the budget. briefly, let's go through the plan. the obama camp says independent groups say if you cut those tax rates for everybody, 20%, it costs $5 trillion over ten years. true? >> not in the least bit true. look, this just goes to show if you torture statistics enough, they'll confess to what you want them to confess to. >> how much does it cost? >> it's neutral. >> we'll get to the deductions. the cut in tax rates. >> lowers all americans tax rates. >> how much does that cost? >> it's revenue neutral. >> it's not revenue neutral unless it takes away --

>> lowering tax rates by broadening the tax base -- >> you haven't given me the math? >> it would take me too long to go through all the math. in massachusetts tonight, senator scott brown and his democratic challenge elizabeth warren face off in the second of four debates for that u.s. senate seat up there. david gregory will moderate it comes as new boston globe poll shows warren inching slightly ahead, 43% to 38%. still 18% of voters remain undecided there. the same poll conducted in may gave senator brown a two-point lead. still ahead on "way too early," wow were the new york jets bad yesterday. shutout, blownout, injured on their home field. rex ryan's press game post conference the only highlight of the day. and an incredible comeback by team europe at ryder cup. the united states entered sunday with a big lead and it's big guns on the course. we'll show you what happened in sports. all that and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right

back. >> there are a few people in the house who would rather we did this some other way. we've tried other ways. i say to my friends in the house of representatives, we've got to get this done. >> we're confident the way we got this package will work in the senate. we're optimistic it will work in the house. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page

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into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. since then, there's been one wedding, 2 kids, and 43 bottles of olay total effects. so in spite of 185 tantrums 378 pre-dawn starts and a lot of birthdays, caroline still looks amazing. you can challenge what's possible thanks to the trusted performance of olay. 60 years, millions of women, real results. 60 years, millions of women, i'm bara ck o bama and i approve romney: "it's time to stand up to the cheaters"

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a little wild out there this morning. you can see the storms, one up there in northern new england, the other plaguing areas from mississippi to the carolinas. this brought tremendous rain in the areas of texas, louisiana, mississippi and alabama. now that rain is pushing up through tennessee. we have one tornado warn together northeast of montgomerie, alabama. flying down at hartsfield airport, could see possible delays. watch out birmingham, month g montgomermonth gogomery and macon, it will be stormy. d.c., the clouds on the increase with a chance of show others from dinner time through this evening. you don't need the umbrella this morning. going home from work, showers

for you. i mentioned that eat out west, very impressive even from areas of san francisco in the mid 80s. l.a. near 100 today. almost all of central california will be in the 100s today. a strange weather pattern to start october. >> one of those days. thank you very much. let's turn to sports. last night on nbc, the late game a defensive battle between the eagles and giants in philadelphia. pick it up in the fourth quarter. eli manning, pascoe for the touchdown. giants up 17-16, just under seven minutes to go. the eagles answer with a field goal, up two points. now up to lawrence tynes to win it from 54 yards out. 15 seconds left. the kick sails wide, but -- but andy reid called time out just before the kick. so another chance. here it is. it looks good, down the middle. but comes up just short. eagles hang on to win 19-17.

they're now 3-1. the giants fall to 2-2. they get the browns next sunday. packers facing the still winless saints at lambeau field. packers happy to have the real officials back after that monday night debacle. in the fourth quarter, packers trailing by six. aaron rodgers and nelson on the slant. 11 yards, muscles his way into the end zone. here's where the refs come back into play. this is on the ensuing kickoff. sprowles, the officials say he was down by contact. the saints have a chance to drive and take the lead with a field down just two points. with under a minute left. the 43-yard field goal to put the saints ahead. it's good, right? splits the uprights.

saints take the lead. hold on a second now. holding on the offense. that moves it back ten yards. an offsides penalty by the packers moved it back up five yards for 48 yards. he hooks it left. saints never got the ball back. packers hold on to win 28-27, maybe a bit of justice for the packers after some bad calls. saints fall to 0-4. drew brees threw for 446 and three touchdowns. the unbeaten falcons hosting the panthers. falcons down one in the fourth quarter. minute to go. matt ryan drops back from his own end zone. throws a dart to white. goes up between two defenders. great play by white. 59-yard pickup. ten seconds on the clock. the field goal from 40. that gives the falcons the lead. they hold on to win 30-28. atlanta falcons, 4-0 for the first time since 1986. the arizona cardinals and houston texans also both 4-0

with wins yesterday. the cardinals pulled out an overtime win yesterday against the dolphins. an ugly day over in new jersey for the jets and 49ers. jets down three scores. mark sanchez who was horrific yesterday, swings it out to santonio holmes. holmes goes down grabbing his foot, loses the ball in the process. rogers scoops it up, 59 yards for the touchdowns. holmes injured his foot. preliminary x-rays are negative but he'll have an mri today. things keep getting worse. fourth quarter, game way out of hand. robert malone gets his punt blocked. that leads to another niners touchdown. jets blown out and embarrassed in their own building, 34-0. the jets are 2-2. a miserable day for that guy, mark sanchez, completed less than 50% of his passes, 103

yards and an interception. after the game, rex ryan lit into his team. >> you know, i apologize for my language because i was going to say we got our butt kicked. but really we got our [ bleep ] kicked. there's no two ways, ins or outs about it. here's the recipe for getting your [ bleep ] kicked. all right? two 2 for 13 on third down, that's 15%. four turnovers a blocked punt when they rush one guy and giving up 245 yards rushing. how is that for a recipe? >> pretty good. coach ryan also said in the press conference he is not ready to put in tim tebow yet as the starting quarterback. says mark sanchez, despite yesterday's performance, remains his guy. to golf, team usa took a huge 10-6 lead into the singles round at the ryder cup. to overcome that deficit on sunday, team europe would use a terrific start to match the greatest comeback in ryder cup history.

tied at 12-12. jim furyk needs this putt to have the match with sergio garcia, but it sails wide of the hole. that was huge. garcia takes the match. team europe comes back 13-12. they were down four points. you need 14 to retain the cup. dufner one up on hanson. hanson needs that putt to stay in the match, pulls it left. tied at 13. next match, martin kaymer, the five-footer, team europe completes the comeback winning by a final of 14 1/2 to 13 1/2. they had tiger woods going in the last match, but his, it turned out, didn't matter it was over before he could finish 18. the ryder cup stays in europe. to baseball, with a 6-3 win over the red sox, the orioles clinch their first playoff berth since 1987. that was not the most dramatic thing that happened to that team

yesterday. after the flight to tampa was forced to make an emergency landing in jacksonville, florida after a fire started on the plane. one oriole posted on facebook that the plane was free-falling for a few minutes as they tried to get it on the ground no injuries were reported. yankees yesterday punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 9-6 win. orioles and yankees are tied -- tied after 159 games, yankees close out the season with a three-game set at home against the red sox starting tonight. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," president obama faces new questions about his administration's handling of the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya that killed four americans including the ambassador. this just two days ahead of that first debate. we'll knock it around with our "morning joe" crew. when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch a run-in between skater dude and some colorado

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we told you at the top of the show that local officials are telling nbc news three american troops are among the 14 people killed this morning in a suicide bombing in afghanistan. this follows a weekend that saw

the 2,000th member of the united states military die in that 11-year war. the sad milestone reminds us of the continuing costs of the war in afghanistan. the average age of a u.s. service member killed there, 26 years old. 9 out of 10 of those killed were enlisted service members. to date the war in afghanistan has cost more than $570 billion, almost a billion dollars a week when you average it out over the long scope of this war. enough of the real news, let's huddle up around the water cool to watch a daredevil skateboarder get an up-close look at the local wildlife during a race in colorado. this race was posted on youtube. the longborder speeding down the mountain until -- oh. one racer kind of gets a ride for a few seconds on the back of a deer before losing it. he goes down, the deer goes down, too. skateboarder needed a little

medical attention, not badly injured. the deer was just fine. nice job by that deer walking it off. got up, ran away. crash may be seen at an honor that attracts the world's wildest longborders. this race is put on every year by "mountain dwelling freaks who like to bomb hills and scare the squares." that's what they say about it. i have no idea what i just said. a fisherman quite a catch in jupiter, florida over the weekend. a 400-pounder of weed. jupiter police say a fisherman reported discovering a pile of burlap sacks filled with maruyama marijuana washed up along the beach. 400 pounds. they have no leads yet on the origin of the maruyawaijuana bu

the street value is $1 millions. coming up, your tweets and texts. and "morning joe" moments away. customer erin swenson bought from us online today. so, i'm happy. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics. you know it can be hard to lbreathe, and how that feels.e, copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms

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